The MD Blues: Under-Recognized Depression and Anxiety in Medical Trainees

Omar Y Mousa, Mandip S Dhamoon, Sarah Lander and Amit S Dhamoon

PLOS ONE, 2016, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Mental health disease is under recognized in medical professionals. Objective: To screen medical students (MS), residents and fellows for major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) under the new era of work hour reform with age-matched controls from a large representative cross-sectional survey. Methods: We conducted an anonymous online survey at a medical university in 2013–2014. We incorporated the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) to screen for MDD and the generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7) to screen for GAD, along with additional questions on life stressors and academic performance. We compared these results to age-matched controls from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Results: 126 residents/fellows and 336 medical students participated voluntarily. 15.1% and 15.9% of postgraduates as well as 16.4% and 20.3% of MS screened positive for MDD and GAD, respectively. When compared to national estimates, the prevalence of a positive screen for MDD was over five-fold higher in medical trainees compared to age-matched controls (16% vs. 2.8%, p

Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0156554

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156554

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